Junior and Club Member Coaching for the coming season.
As some of you probably know, we have changed our venue to The Grange School. We are now resident in a brand new sports hall, with top of the range tables and plenty of space!
As a result of this change our junior coaching sessions have changed time and day. Junior coaching will now be on a THURSDAY, starting Thursday 11th September 2014, between 7 and 8pm. The cost will still be £2 per session and will be run by two UKCC coaches, myself and Matt Ware, who is an international player. Any junior player is welcome to attend, you don’t have to be a club member, and we have boys and girls from a selection of local schools. All you need is yourself, your £2, a pair of trainers and suitable clothing, bats can be provided, so please come along and have a go!
Matt will be giving individual coaching, from 6pm until 7pm, and then from 8pm until 10pm. At the moment his rates are still £15 an hour for individuals, and £20 per hour for a small group of up to four players. These individual sessions are available to any club member and are well worth the investment. Matt comes highly recommended and it is a great opportunity to boost your game and learn from a real professional.
Any coaching queries please feel free to ask me on 01425 614784.
See you soon
Julie Smillie (Coaching Officer New Milton Table Tennis Club)
New Milton TTC Changes Venues
Our club members will be aware that we have been reviewing the venues we use for our various club activities over the last few weeks. As part of this review, we organised two practice sessions at the Dorset Table Tennis Centre at The Grange School in Christchurch.
Following overwhelmingly positive feedback from our membership, I am pleased to announce that we have decided to move our Tuesday night activities (currently held at Arnewood School) to the Grange on Thursday evenings. We will also relocate our Sunday night practice session (currently at Sway community centre) to The Grange; this will remain a Sunday activity.
We will continue to use the main hall in Mudeford Wood Community Centre on Monday evenings, so our league teams will be split between the two venues.
There are a few formalities to complete but the change should take place on 1st September ready for the start of the new season.
The Grange School is an excellent venue that provides the club with the professional facilities needed to attract new members and continue our development as a Premier Club.
Steve Hemmings
Chairman
NMTTC AGM/PRESENTATION EVENING
At a very well attended AGM & Presentation Evening of the New Milton Table Tennis Club, Shaun Newcomb announced that he would be standing down from the Chair due his other heavy commitments. The members were relieved to hear however that Shaun would continue in his role as Club Development Officer. Club Treasurer Malcolm Floyd paid tribute to Shaun’s three year tenure in the chair during which the club achieved Premier Clubmark status, became a prestigious “Ability” Club and received numerous grants for club equipment. In recognition of his immense contribution to the club, Shaun was elected as the club’s very first Vice-President and will serve alongside Club President and fellow former chairman Bob Fagan. Vice-Chairman Steve Hemmings was proposed for the chair which was unanimously agreed.
Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns reported that the club had had a slightly disappointing season in the Bournemouth and District League with no teams winning promotion and three of the eleven teams being relegated. On a more positive note, there were some successes in the Bournemouth and District Individuals Tournaments in which Shaun Newcomb (“ITMA” for older readers) won the Vets 50+ title, Matthew Daish picked up the Junior Under 15 title and Kai Major won the Junior Under 13 event. Gerard Redman came runner-up in the Bournemouth Closed and Dave Cuddon was runner-up in the Div 2 event. The Premier’s A team (Steve Hemmings, Matthew Daish, Phil Handy & Umit Kaya) came runners-up in the Times and Directory Handicap Cup competition. Club President Bob Fagan was honoured by the Bournemouth & District Association by being awarded the Elsie Carrington Trophy for Sportsmanship. Bev didn’t mention this, but he (Bev) was delighted to attain his County Umpire badge after winning his spurs at the Bournemouth and District Tournaments. There was the usual lively debate at the AGM, and a lot of the discussion centred around the possible use of the Grange School in Somerford. The committee had previously decided not to pursue this option, but agreed to revisit this topic and report back to the membership.
With Steve Hemmings moving up to the Chair, Andrew Daish, a former Junior Representative, was unanimously elected as Vice Chair. Lynn Willrich was unanimously elected onto the committee and will take over as Minutes Secretary from Julie Smillie who will carry on as Welfare Officer and Club Coach. The remainder of the committee was unanimously elected en bloc; Secretary: Bev Scott-Johns, Treasurer: Malcolm Floyd, Development Officer: Shaun Newcomb. Committee Members: Peter Daish (Junior Representative), Malcolm Douglas, Frank Handy and Phil Handy.
With the official business over, Club President Bob Fagan presented the annual trophies. First of all, Bob thanked Bev Scott-Johns for another set of extremely well organised tournaments this season. Bob announced that the James Lewis Shield for Most Improved Player would go to Kai Major by unanimous vote by the committee. This promising 12 year old achieved a very creditable 48% winning average in Div 4 in his first year in the league. He won the BDTTA Junior 13 title and was also the Under 40s champion in the club tournaments. He also won the Dorset School Games hot on the heels of winning the Hampshire School Games. Definitely one to watch for the future!
Also by unanimous vote, but at the opposite end of the age spectrum, Malcolm Floyd was awarded the Doris Marshall Memorial Plate for Club Person of the Year. Malcolm is one of only two club members who have been awarded this honour twice (in the heady company of the legend that is Bev Scott-Johns). Malcolm, in addition to performing his Treasurer’s duties and acting as Press Secretary, also put in a tremendous amount of work in ensuring that the club was re-accredited as a Premier Club this season.
The full listing of trophy winners is below:-
Scratch Singles: Phil Handy, Runner-up Matthew Daish
Handicap Singles: Matthew Daish, Runner-up Phil Handy
Ladies Singles: Sylvia Smith, Runner-up Julie Smillie
Over 40s: Shaun Newcomb, Runner-up Steve Hemmings
Under 40s: Kai Major, Runner-up Simon Daish
Juniors: Matthew Daish, Runner-up Peter Daish
Doubles: Steve Hemmings & Svet Ignatov, Runners-up Sylvia Smith & Gerard Redman
James Lewis Trophy for Most Improved Player: Kai Major
Doris Marshall Memorial Plate for Club Person of the year: Malcolm Floyd
The new playing season starts in September, so anybody interested in joining our very friendly club should contact Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns on 01425 619552.
Andrew umpires at the Senior Schools’ Internationals in Cardiff
New Milton Table Tennis Club 2nd division player and county umpire Andrew Daish was called up to Cardiff on July 27th to help officiate in the Senior Schools Internationals being hosted at the Sport Wales National Centre. The tournament lasted for three days and top ranked players from around the British Isles including Callum Evans (Wales) and Jared Patel (England) attended the event. Andrew had to umpire around 40 matches over the weekend with the quality of play being top notch. Andrew being consistent with the law, as he normally is, brandished yellow cards although he restrained himself to just three cards over the weekend, pulling competitors up for use of constant bad language and table abuse.
The eventual winners of the boys Under 18 Team event were England A defeating England B 3-1 in the final to lift the crown and Andrew described the champions as being “incredible”.
17 umpires, including Andrew, attended the competition and were provided with free meals, overnight accommodation and travel expenses. Andrew has now umpired at a total of 15 local and national tournaments since completing his County Umpire award and is constantly on the lookout for more action as he aims to become a National Umpire.
BOB FAGAN IS A GOOD SPORT, OFFICIAL!
Twenty seven members and guests of the New Milton Table Tennis Club attended the Annual Presentation Evening of the Bournemouth and District Table Tennis Association at the Ocean View Hotel in Bournemouth, and witnessed a number of club players receive their trophies from special guest Alex Perry. Alex is a former England No 1 player with an impressive list of top level titles. He has England National titles in Singles, Men’s Doubles 4 times and Mixed Doubles 7 times. A gold medal at the Commonwealth Games with the England Men’s team and Gold Medals at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships are just some of the honours achieved at international level.
After an excellent meal, Alex Perry gave a truly inspirational speech and then proceeded to present the trophies under the watchful eye of Association General Secretary Gordon White. First up for the New Milton Club were Matthew Daish and Phil Handy who picked up the Times and Directory Handicap Cup runners-up trophy on behalf of the A team (their plan didn’t quite come together!). Matthew had to return to the front a bit later to pick up his Junior Under 15 winner’s trophy.
Shaun Newcomb (B team) was summoned to receive his trophy for winning the Vets 50+ title, and Kai Major (H team) proudly collected his Junior Under 13 winner’s trophy. Gerard Redman (E team) picked up his runner-up trophy for the Bournemouth Closed event and Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns collected the Division 2 runner-up trophy on behalf of the C team’s Dave Cuddon who was unable to attend.
A huge cheer went up from the New Milton table when it was announced that Club President Bob Fagan had won the prestigious Elsie Carrington Trophy for Sportsmanship. Bob, who was there with proud wife Sandy, joins the pantheon of club members who previously received this accolade, namely Julie Smillie and Shaun Newcomb. Bob always comes smiling through each table tennis match, regardless of how many “nets and edges” go against him, and quickly apologises for those that go for him. Win or lose, Bob is always the same, with a firm and friendly handshake after every match. A delighted Bob is shown receiving his well-deserved accolade from Alex Perry.
Association Chairman Phil Hadley congratulated the winners and runners-up, and thanked the organisers of the Presentation Evening and the Tournament Organisers and Umpires. In that heady company was County Umpire Andrew Daish from the New Milton Club, and Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns who gained his County Umpire spurs at the tournament finals night. League Results Secretary and Club Treasurer Malcolm Floyd was also thanked for the major part that he played in the production of the Association Annual Newsletter “A League Of Our Own”, copies of which were placed on every table. All in all, a very good evening for the New Milton Table Tennis Club.
Pictured below are Phil Handy & Matthew Daish receiving their Times and Directory Runners-Up trophies, then Matthew proudly displaying his Junior Under 15 cups.
Shaun Newcomb looks rather pleased with his Vets 50+ cups, as does Kai Major with his cups for winning the Junior Under 15 title.
And last but not least is Gerard Redman receiving his runner-up trophy for the Bournemouth Closed Event.
First Aid
You may not have noticed but in the past few months we have updated our First Aid kits. They are all situated in the storage cupboards at each venue.
In each box there are also emergency First Aid posters, with actions to take in a medical emergency.
Also, Hampshire does run First Aid courses quite frequently and I would thoroughly recommend any club member to take a course, as you never know when it could come in handy!
Here is a link to an aid memoire on First Aid, it is worth looking through to refresh your memory with recent procedures and techniques.
Hampshire School Games
Hampshire School Games June 22nd 2014
Last Saturday I took up nine boys and one girl to Aldershot to compete in the Hampshire School Games. The group were mainly from our Tuesday evening coaching sessions at Arnewood School.
All the children played brilliantly, I was so proud of their professional manner and the way they all stepped up their game for tournament play.
Three of the boys won, or came second in their group and went through to the quarter final round. Elliot Stor-Smith and Luke du Preez played really well but were then knocked out, but the star of the show was Kai Major who won his semi-final and then went on to win the event.
Our girl competitor, Katie White, also played excellently, the girls event was organised into a round robin play off. Katie won all her games, bar one, and ended up with the silver medal.
Well done to all the competitors, you should be really proud of yourselves. Also a big thank you to Craig Major who was the parent helper for the day.
Julie Smillie
Ashley Fun Day
Ashley Fun Day June 14th 2014
On Saturday 14th June another successful ‘Fun Day’ was organised at Ashley Rugby Club.
Many sports were available for the public to try and New Milton Table Tennis Club was again very well represented; with three tables being provided by Jamie Burton, our Hampshire Sports and Development Officer.
For most of the day the tables were being used by young and old alike and we had several enquiries about NM club.
I would like to thank Steve Hemmings, Malcolm Floyd, Gerard Redman, Sylvia Smith, Bev Scott-Johns and Shaun Newcomb for their help on the day; and of course Jamie Burton for bringing the tables.
Julie Smillie
New Milton Table Tennis Club 